


Endless Summers

by orphan_account



Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Character Death Fix, Fix-It, Interrogation, Non-Graphic Violence, Prison, Red Dead Redemption 2 Spoilers, Spoilers, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-12 21:30:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17475317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: All he remembered were the gunshots. One and then one more- the sound was deafening but the feeling that came soon after was worse. He heard his name called, then even more gunshots. But not at him. The last thing he could recall were the voices of his friends, specifically Arthur, as they got further and further away. Leaving him behind, saying their goodbyes.





	1. Shot to the heart

All he remembered were the gunshots. One and then one more- the sound was deafening but the feeling that came soon after was worse. He heard his name called, then even more gunshots. But not at him. The last thing he could recall were the voices of his friends, specifically Arthur, as they got further and further away. Leaving him behind, saying their goodbyes. He wanted to try and reach out, to say anything- but he didn’t have it in him. With his final thought before the darkness he sent out a prayer for the safety of his newfound family, and then prepared himself to be reunited with his father.

But when he woke up, his father was nowhere in sight. There was just a cheap bed, cold walls and a searing pain in his chest and stomach. He stirred slightly, trying to use what little strength he had to hold up his head and get a look around. He shakily propped himself up on his hands, feeling his wrappings contract around him as he moved. He looked down to see he wasn’t wearing a shirt, only bandages on him from the waist up. His eyes scanned the room and landed on the bars in place of a door- he was in jail. A part of him was actually relieved that he was alive and in prison instead of being dead and realizing Heaven isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. 

“You awake, kid?” A voice caught his attention from outside his cell. He looked and saw a lawman standing there, gun at the ready- as if he was capable anything in his current state. Part of him was flattered, he had to admit. 

“I guess so.” He wheezed out before collapsing back down onto the bed again, his strength having run its course. The lawman chuckled at him.

“Good enough. Don’t get too comfortable, you’ll be outta here real soon. We’re gonna have a friendly lil...chat, with ya.”

“And if I don’t feel like talkin’?” Every word was a struggle to get out but Lenny was never one to stay quiet or let somebody else have the last word.

“Don’t worry boy… we have ways of makin’ you talk.” His tone was dark and threatening, and it was obvious that these “ways” wouldn’t involve treating him kindly and building up a good repore. “If you don’t cooperate, you’ll end up just like your smooth talkin’ friend did.” 

_ Hosea.  _ He felt a pang in his heart as he remembered what happened. In his haze he had seemingly forgotten about everything- how he’d gotten there, who they’d lost. 

The guard didn’t wait for a response before he skulked off, likely to tell the others he had woken up. For now he was there, alone with his thoughts and awaiting whatever they had planned for him. His mind raced with thoughts of the gang- where was everybody? Did they make it out ok? He assumed they did, given the fact that the only death they mentioned was Hosea’s. But maybe that was just to catch him off guard later- spring the deaths of more of his friends on him in an attempt to weaken his resolve. He at least took some comfort in the fact that they must not have gotten everybody, seeing as if they did they’d have no real reason to question  _ him  _ over somebody like Dutch or Arthur. And while he hopes for the safety and freedom of the gang overall...a wicked part of him hopes they got Micah. 

But judging by his current situation, he knew he wasn’t that lucky. 

After what seemed like no time at all he heard footsteps approaching, and the cell door swung open. They didn’t wait for him to rise, instead opting to roughly pull him to his feet and drag him down the hall. He looked around and surmised he was in the Saint Denis police department based on the size of the place. He had been in there a few times before, but didn’t know of the hidden door that they brought him through. It was dark and he couldn’t see much until they brought in lanterns. He looked around and saw a wooden chair with shackles- he assumed that’d be his seat. There were some other chairs, looking much less threatening, and a table. He was roughly seated and secured in- he tested his restraints out of instinct, despite knowing he wouldn’t have the strength to escape even if he wanted to. One of the men who had brought him stood at the door while the other took a seat across from him. They were joined by a third man, dressed much more extravagantly than the other two, who just wore standard uniforms. This third man slowly made his way across the table, staring Lenny down as he went. The young man didn’t break eye contact the entire time, and the older man chuckled at his determination.

“Leonard Summers… correct?”

“Maybe.”  _ WHACK.  _ The standing man slapped him across the face. 

“That kind of attitude may work for you with your little gang of misfits, but it won’t fly here. You know why you’re here, Mr.Summers, so let’s just cut to the chase. Dutch, and the rest of them. We want to know where they’re hiding out.”

“I’m not tellin’ you guys anything.”  _ WHACK.  _ This time it was the butt of a gun instead of a hand colliding with his face. He bit his cheek upon impact and could taste the blood as it flowed out into his mouth. 

And this dance went on for some time- a question asked, an answer not given and a punishment received. Soon Lenny’s face was swollen and bruised and they moved onto other parts of his body- crushing his fingers, probing at the gunshot wounds on his torso. Physically he may have felt broken but his resolve never faltered, and after an hour of pain his torturers were still stuck at square one and growing visibly frustrated with him. They obviously had not expected this kid to be able to hold out so well, and were keen on just calling it a day. 

“The bastard’s useless!” The doorman shouted. “Maybe he’s as dumb as he looks, don’t even know how to speak right or somethin’.” Lenny had to roll his eyes at the irony of somebody who speaks like that accusing him of being unintelligent. “Maybe we should just kill ‘em, be done with it. Get ‘im outta our hair. Everybody thinks the lil worm is dead anyways.” He tried not show any reaction to the lawman’s words, knowing that would be just what he wanted. 

“Maybe you’re right… he’s not talkin’ because he doesn’t know nothin’. He probably wasn’t even important to them- just another gun for hire, easily left behind and forgotten. I mean… look how easily he was taken down and captured, when even the woman could get away! They didn’t even care enough to see if he was really dead, now did they? All they cared about were saving their own hides.” He leaned across the table, getting mere inches away from Lenny’s face as he stared him in the eye. “You think a sorry sack of shit like this  _ means  _ anything to them? Some dumb  _ kid _ ?” 

Lenny fought hard to not let those words affect him, but it was a battle he would ultimately lose. Whether it was from the physical or emotional pain he was suffering (or maybe a combination of both), he could feel the beginnings of tears welling in his eyes. It wasn’t a feeling he was familiar with- he hadn’t really cried in years, not since his father was killed. He didn’t even cry for Jenny- he never had the time. Same with Sean, or Kieran, or Hosea. He never had time to really  _ feel  _ anything with how quickly everything was moving. But now, alone and beaten, all those repressed emotions came to the surface and time seemed to stand still. His captors chuckled as the first tear, and then the second, spilled down his cheeks. 

With no free hands he couldn’t wipe them away, so they lingered there as they dripped down his chin and landed on his lap. He heard them laugh at him, say something about him “crying like the child he is” that would normally piss him off but in that moment, he didn’t care. Not about them. He cared about the gang, his family, all the bad things that they had to go through. He cared about whether or not they were ok, if they were together, if they were hurt. And he cared about himself- whether or not he was going to make it out of this room alive, if he’d ever get to see any of them again or if they’d ever find out that he didn’t die there on that rooftop. 

So he sat there, and he wept. Eventually they got tired of laughing at his misery and gave him one fell smack with one of their guns that knocked him out cold. In his last moment of consciousness he hoped that he’d wake up again. 


	2. On the road again

The feeling of being knocked out cold and waking up in strange places was one Lenny found himself becoming much more accustomed to than he ever thought he would- seemed more like something Javier or Sean would get themselves into. But as that familiar feeling of confusion came back to him as he started to regain consciousness, he realized it was part of his reality now too. This time it was even harder to get a grasp on where he was because he found himself...moving? He was propped up, instead of laying down. And unlike last time, he wasn’t alone. 

“Oh, so you aren’t dead. Good to know.” A voice said from beside him and he turned to look at who it was. Somebody he didn’t recognize- shackled up just like him. He was a weasley looking blonde guy, not too unlike Micah. But his features were much softer, and his tone more welcoming. He looked around and realized he was in a transport cart of some sort with a few other inmates- the aforementioned blonde guy, a bigger, more grizzled guy with long black hair across from him and beside him a frail looking man with short brown hair who Lenny swore was even skinnier than John.

“They roughed you up pretty good, huh?” The black haired one asked. “You look like hell.”

“Don’t feel much better.” He rasped out. He adjusted himself in his seat to try and get a bit more comfortable, but the restraints made it near impossible. So he sat awkwardly, but he took some comfort in the fact that the pain he felt meant he was still alive. “I’m Lenny. Where we headed, anyways?” 

“I’m Leo,” The blonde announced. “and the one across from me is Adam.” He gestured over to the bigger guy. Lenny noticed how he didn’t introduce the other man, and assumed that meant they didn’t know each other. “Frankly I’m not sure where we’re headed. Doubt all to the same place.”

“Why not? Just seems like common sense.” Adam chuckled. 

“They’re lawmen, they ain’t got no sense at all.” Adam said, and the three of them started to laugh before one of the men driving the carriage started banging on the bars, telling them to quiet down. Lenny and two of the others rolled their eyes but the fourth, the one who hadn’t spoken yet, just watched his face very intently.

“You got a problem with me or somethin’? You look like you’ve seen a ghost” Lenny questioned, already on the defensive. Quickly the man shook his head and averted his eyes. 

“Well don’t leave me hangin’. What were you lookin’ at me like that for?” 

Slowly the guy’s eyes travelled back to meet his own. “I was just… are you…”

“Spit it out, buddy!” Leo barked at him. 

“Are you… one of the Van Der Lindes? Y’know- the ones who robbed that bank last week.” Lenny’s eyes widened at the question… how would he know?

“What’s it to you? Have money in there or somethin’?” Lenny’s tone was harsher than he had intended it to be, and the unnamed man recoiled back. He obviously wasn’t much of one for conflict, which made him wonder how he even got here in the first place. 

“No...I just… you looked familiar, is all. Saw your face in the paper, along with an older guy. Said you were...well, it said you were dead. You told me I looked like I saw a ghost… I kind of feel like I have.” His voice was trembling as he spoke, and it made Lenny wonder if this guy  _ really  _ thought he was a ghost.

“Well the news was wrong. They’re just sayin’ I’m dead because that’s what everybody thinks.”

“You mean the rest of your gang?” Leo asked. He nodded solemnly in response.

“Yeah. Took two bullets to the chest on the top of the roof during the getaway. They had to keep goin’ or all risk ending up like me. Can’t say I blame them.” 

“I’m sure they wouldn’t have left you behind, if they knew.” Adam assured him, seeing how much talking about his friends brought him down. “From what I’ve heard of the Van Der Lindes, yer a tight knit bunch. Unlike those other clowns- The O’driscolls. If I had a dollar for every man that bastard Colm has used and thrown away like a cigarette I’d be a rich man. My brother ended up being one of those sad saps.”

“I’m… I’m sorry to hear that.” Adam let out a little breathy laugh and smirked.

“Y’know it’s funny- with how much fightin’ your gang did with his it’s a possibility one of your buddies killed him. Hell, maybe it was even you.” Despite this sounding like some sort of accusation or ticket to start a fight, there was no malice in his words. “I wouldn’t blame you, though. You gotta do what you gotta do- ‘s why we’re all here, right?” The guys all nodded in agreement, none of them in any place to judge the others or try to defend themselves. For the rest of the ride they chatted about nothing in particular- their horses, the places they’ve visited, the women they were sweet on. None of the other three were in the mood to delve too far into what got them there in the first place, and Lenny realized that if his reason hadn’t been exposed he probably wouldn’t have shared either. 

Eventually they felt themselves slowing down and approaching a small city- Valentine, he quickly recognized. He smiled to himself as hazy memories of his and Arthur’s drunken adventures returned to him. When he closed his eyes he swore he could still hear Arthur shouting his name (or some variation of it). He didn’t get to bask in the moment for long, though. They came to a stop and were quickly unloaded out of the wagon. The four of them were guided into the sheriff’s office, one armed officer behind them and one in front. The sheriff greeted them before the four prisoners were put into the empty cells. 

“Why the hell are we in Valentine?” Lenny asked one of the sheriff as soon as their cell doors were shut.

“They ran outta room in the Saint Denis jail. Too many bastards like you runnin’ amok. They haven’t quite decided what to do with you yet, and we sure as hell ain’t lettin’ you out. So you’ll stay here for a time, while we have a vacancy.” He went back to take a seat at his desk after explaining the current situation to the four men. 

And for a time they did stay. Time droned on and on as they awaited their sentences in the cramped cells. The four got to know each other better, even the timid little rabbit of a man- who he eventually learned was named James. Lenny could feel himself getting antsier with each passing day. The only time he had ever found himself in a jail cell before was after waking up half of Valentine with his inebriated shouting. And that was only for a day- it had been over a week by this point. It was even worse not knowing what was to come… would he be hung? The rational side of his brain guessed not, because he hadn’t heard any gossip around the office about John, who he heard had also been arrested, being hung as of yet. The only thing besides his thoughts and conversations with the boys were them continuing to question him about his allies whereabouts. Of course he never gave them anything to work with, and he could tell they were starting to be done with him. They used less and less physical violence each time, which he had to say he didn’t mind.

Eventually, judgement day came. First it was Leo and Adam. Apparently they were be transported down to Blackwater, and Lenny couldn’t help but cringe at the mention of the town that seemed to be where all of their problems went from bad to worse. He was glad it wasn’t him heading down there. Next was James, who was being sent back to Saint Denis. Lenny was a bit jealous- Saint Denis by and far had the largest and nicest jail out of all the nearby city ones. The men said their goodbyes and soon it was just Lenny, alone. 

“Well, kid. Looks like it’s just you left. You’re real lucky- you’re goin somewhere  _ special. _ Ever been to an island before?” He shook his head.

“Can’t say I have.”

“Well consider this a vacation, then! You’ll be headin’ to Siska. Bon voyage, buddy.” Lenny felt his heart drop at the news. He guessed it was better than hanging- but not by much. The place was known for being absolutely brutal- high security and high tensions. It was only for the worst of the worst, sentenced off of the mainland. Lenny couldn’t believe that he was considered truly criminal enough to go there. He couldn’t believe it up until he was being loaded into the boat off the coast of Lemoyne’s Eastern shore, when the sight of it looming ahead of him made him realized that this is where he may live out the rest of his days...if he even had many left at all.


	3. A Familiar voice

Those first few steps off of the boat were some of the hardest that Lenny had ever had to take. Over the hills and down the path to the front entrance, guards on every tower watching him like a hawk with their guns at the ready. Even though his wounds had mostly healed he wouldn’t consider himself much of a threat in his current state, especially being restrained. He realized that their hyper-vigilance probably reflected the type of clientele they usually dealt with and felt a lump in his throat. Those were the types of people he was going to be sharing space with.

He was quickly ushered through to the holding area where he saw a few other new arrivals, a mix of scared youngsters like him and large men who look like they ate bullets for breakfast. He made an effort to avoid eye contact- didn’t want to wind up on anybody’s bad side on the first day. Then, he was stripped down and searched before being given a new uniform to wear, replacing the old dirty clothes he had been wearing since his time in Saint Denis. Part of him was actually thankful to finally have something else to wear, although prisoner couture wouldn’t have been his first choice. 

Finally he was directed to what would be his cell, just one amongst many. They told him to settle in, and that he’d be put to work tomorrow morning- bright and early. While he was the only one in the cell for the moment, the bunk beds indicated that he wouldn’t be alone for long. Aside from the beds there was a small washbasin in one corner and a suspicious looking bucket in the other. Overall the room was pretty bare- it barely looked lived in at all. He guessed that whoever he’s sharing his cell with hadn’t been here too long either, as unlike some of the other cells he saw along the way it lacked any sort of personal touches like carvings, photos, or makeshift decor (or any traces of blood, which Lenny was happy to see.) For a brief moment he wondered if he had gotten lucky and wound up without a cellmate but by judging the state of the bottom bunk- which was slightly disheveled- versus the top bunk- which was immaculately made-, he knew that wasn’t the case. He just hoped this guy was friendly- whoever he was.  

So once again he found himself waiting. If he learned anything from this whole ordeal it was that he fucking  _ hated  _ waiting. 

He tested out the beds, climbing up and down off the bunks more times than he could count. He looked at the washbasin, and then in the bucket. Gross. He paced around the cell. Sang to himself something he remembered hearing the guys sing during Sean’s welcome home party. He thought of Sean- how he was always so loud and overconfident. He thought of how much he missed him. The he thought of Karen, and how in love the two of them seemed. He wondered if she was doing okay. Then his mind went to Mary-Beth and Kieran- another pair ripped apart by death. Not to mention John and Abigail- he thought about how young Jack was holding up, dealing with his father being gone. He hoped that wherever John was that he was alright; that he hadn’t been hanged or killed in some other gruesome way. Over the course of many hours Lenny let his mind wander to places he had stopped himself from going to before- thinking about everybody being apart, fighting, or dead. About them being hunted down by the Pinkertons or the law or even the O’Driscolls. About himself, against all odds, outliving them when as far as they knew he was already dead. 

The only thing that ever drew him away from his thoughts was one of the guards swinging by to deliver food- some bread and beans, nothing fancy. But he was hungry enough to make it taste way better than it had any right to. And at  _ least  _ it gave him something to do for a little while. 

After what seemed like an eternity he could hear more of a commotion from outside his cell- the sound of yelling and footsteps. He got down from his bed and ran to the door, looking outside to see what was going on. From his obscured view he saw prisoners, tons of them, marching in line with arms guards surrounding them. Some of the prisoners were rowdy, shoving against each other and laughing loudly. Others were more meek, keeping their eyes forward and cowering when spoken to. He backed up from the door as some started to be directed past his cell and waited for somebody to be let into his. He awkwardly stumbled around, trying to decide which position would be best. Should he press up right against the back wall? Stand confident in the middle? Or hide up on his bed? Was he overthinking this? He was fumbling about trying to quickly decide his plan of action when a familiar voice caught his attention.

“I’m goin, I’m goin!” He heard him say, the familiar rasp in the man’s voice unmistakable but Lenny thought it was too good to be true. 

It wasn’t until he heard a guard respond with “Get going, Marston!” That made his eyes widen and he rushed back to the bars, looking frantically for the scarred face of John Marston in the crowd. 

“John? John?” He couldn’t hold himself back from calling out in a desperate attempt to find him, not caring that he was calling attention to himself- he  _ needed  _ to see him. “John? Where are you? Are you-” He was cut off by one of the officers banging harshly on his door with the butt of his gun. 

“Stop your fuckin’ yelling, newbie!” The guard barked. “Johnson, here.” He roughly guided one of the inmates to the cell door. “Meet Summers, your new roommate. Play nice, assholes.” A sour looking grey-haired man entered his cell, staring him dead in the eye without saying a word as he sat down on the bed. 

\-----

Meanwhile, just down the line from where Lenny’s cell was John whipped his head around at familiar voice calling his name as he was ushered into his cell. His roomate flopped down on the bed but he clung to the door, listening intently as the guard chastised whoever was screaming to him. 

_ “Stop your fuckin’ yelling, newbie!”  _ He shouted, and John instantly knew it was the fat guard with a bad temper that he didn’t like.  _ “Johnson, here.”  _ Johnson… didn’t ring a bell to him. But it wasn’t the name he cared about.

_ “Meet Summers.”  _ Was all John had to hear before he felt his heart start to pound in his chest. He tried to angle himself in any way possible to see down to where they were, but to no avail. Even without a visual confirmation he knew as much as he needed to. Lenny  _ goddamn  _ Summers, who he had heard was shot dead shortly after Hosea, was alive. Here. Down the hall from him. John felt what he thought to be the first positive emotions he’d had since before the bank robbery- he felt relief, and hope. The only thing he could think of that night was his young brother, so close yet so far. 

Tomorrow was going to be interesting. 

 


	4. A plan arises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lenny gets to scheming with friends old and new

Lenny was hardly able to sleep that night, his mind racing with thoughts of being reunited with John the next day. Luckily his roommate, Carl, wasn’t as bad as he seemed- he laid down the law, let Lenny knew he was in charge. As long as he just smiled and nodded they’d be alright. And Lenny was find to do just that- he didn’t have the time to worry about asserting his dominance anyways. There was only one man in this prison he wanted to talk to, and it wasn’t the snoring heap of man under his bunk.

As promised the guards arrived bright and early to shepherd the men out, and for the first time in his entire life Lenny was eager and ready to go come 6AM. If only Miss Grimshaw could see him now.

He was sorted away with other inmates to be given his assignment- there were a handful of different places in the prison that they could work, and Lenny just prayed to whatever god that would listen that he got sent to the same place as John. Nothing else on Earth had felt as important to him since his father was killed and the desire to take revenge ate him alive until they were lying dead around his feet. Now the desire to see John face to face, to have _somebody_ know that he made it…. It would make him feel alive again, when every day since the botched robbery had made him feel more like a ghost than a person. Meeting with John, being able to look him in the eye and be seen in return is what he desperately needed right now. The chances of the two of them being reunited had to be so slim, and he hoped that maybe this would mean his luck was beginning to turn around. So, as the words “shovel duty” hit his ears he nodded and followed the hand that fate dealt him, hoping it would lead him to his greasy compatriot.

And the grin that he had to try his damndest to hide (lest looking suspicious) as he stood there amongst his fellow newbies and the job was explained to them said it all. For not even ten feet away John shovelled half-heartedly, smirking as he waited for young Mr.Summers to join them. The shovels were thrust into the hands of Lenny and the others, and quickly he took the opportunity to stand and start working in the free spot next to his brother.

“Well ain’t you a sight for sore eyes, kid?” John said in a low voice as not to be heard by the guards lazily patrolling about.

“Wish I could say the same.” Lenny joked. “That scar really ain’t goin’ away, huh?” John snorted in response.

“You never know…Sometimes things you think’ll be there, they leave. And things you think you’ve already lost…. Well, they have their ways of comin’ back when you least expect it.”

“What? Like Uncle’s lumbago?” The two men shared a quiet laugh together, eyes flickering up to make sure the guards weren’t watching them too closely.

“So… are you gonna tell me about how you came back from the dead? Or is that just a secret you’re gonna keep to yourself?” John asked him.

“Surprised you even know about what happened. You were captured before I got gunned down.”

“Word travels. And did you say you were gunned down? Damn.” John shook his head and the next strike of his shovel into the dirt hit a bit harder than the ones before it.

“Yeah. On the rooftops as we were makin’ our getaway. I was first up with Arthur trailin’ behind. I was turned around talkin’ to him, spun back and saw two Pinkertons in my face. Shot me before I could react, but Arthur gunned ‘em down pretty quickly. All I heard next was people yellin’- Arthur sayin’ I was dead. I wanted to try and reach out, tell him I wasn’t gone...but I just couldn’t.” John listened intently to his story.

“Do you remember anything else? What everybody said? What…. What Dutch said?” He avoided Lenny’s eyes as he asked the question- obviously not wanting the younger man to see the hurt in them that he couldn’t mask.

“I remember… some things. Dutch yelled something, sounded distressed but kept on going. Charles bent down, said goodbye. The rest just ran passed me…” He hesitated, trying to wrack his brain for the foggy memories. “I think… I think it was Javier, who hesitated. Trying to get Arthur to come along.”

“Arthur?”

Lenny nodded. “Arthur. He stayed by my side the longest- as everybody else went by. Didn’t wanna leave- probably wouldn’t have if they didn’t make him, the idiot.” He smiled fondly as he talked about Arthur, and it was a smile John returned.

“That’s Arthur for ya. He always had a soft spot for you, kid. I can’t imagine what he was goin’ through- losing me, Hosea and then you? Hope he’s ok out there.”

“Me too. I hope they’re all ok…. You heard anything about the others? ‘Bout...Abigail, and Jack?” Lenny treaded lightly with asking about John’s wife and son, especially since he hadn’t brought them up himself.

“I know Abigail got away. Don’t know much more than that about her, or anybody else. I know about me, you and Hosea. That’s it so far.” Lenny was happy to hear that Abigail made it out, and was sure that wherever she was she was keeping her boy safe. But he couldn’t help but be disappointed that John didn’t know more.

“So, uh…. What now, John?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know damn well what I mean.” He turned to look John in the eye, his eyes burning with determination. “What’s our plan to get _outta_ here?” John chuckled at him.

“You were always an eager one. My plan originally was just to wait it out and let the gang come and-” He couldn’t finish before Lenny cut him off with a groan.

“Always playin’ the damsel in distress, ain’t you Marston? Waitin’ for Arthur or somebody else to come and save your ass!” His voice was harsh but barely above a whisper- just loud enough for John to hear. “You can’t just expect them to always be your safety net! We don’t even know where they are right now, if they’re dead or alive!”

“Well what kind of plan am I supposed to have? This place is locked up tight, and I don’t exactly wanna be embarkin’ on a suicide mission! What is one man supposed to do?”

“There’s your problem.” Lenny stated after a moment of thought. “ _‘What’s one man supposed to do?’”_ He mocked. “One man ain’t gonna do nothin- but we’re not one man… we’re two.” He gave the older man a confident smirk, his eyes twinkling with excitement. “And we’re gonna give ‘em hell.”

John shook his head, as if in disapproval, but the smile on his face gave away his true feelings. “While I gotta say I admire the confidence, I… I just don’t know if it’s smart. We don’t wanna go getting’ ourselves killed stupidly now. You…. We got too much to live for.”

He nodded in agreement. “I’m not suggestin’ we be stupid about this now. This place is well guarded, notoriously so. But there’s gotta be a crack somewhere- something they didn’t think about. There always is- and lucky for us, we’re especially good at finding them.” He was of course alluding to their line of work, and how a large part of their job was finding the little gaps in the foundation of guarded places like banks, trains and boats- and then once they find those gaps, they wiggle their way in. Only this time, they’d be wiggling their way _out_ instead.

They both agreed on the plan to come up with a plan and continued on working, mostly in silence as they didn’t want to push their luck with the guards. Then their day was over- they returned to their cells, spoke with who they could and looked out for any leads along the way, slept, and reconvened at work the next day.

\-----

This cycle continued for almost a week before they got anything solid to go off of. They watched the patterns of the guards and got to know the behaviour of them as individuals- see if any of them were more careless than the others. And of course, some of them were. They quickly honed in on one named Jenson- relatively young looking, must be new. He still looked at the inmates as people- with humanity in his eyes, instead of just as livestock or animals like his peers. Quickly they built up a repore with him; getting on his good side in any way they could. John was the one doing most of the legwork here- turns out Jenson had a wife and kid back home too, so he was easily able to get the guy to open up when he mentioned having Abigail and Jack. Lenny felt a sense of pride as he watched John chat up the guard more and more, seeing a real fire lit under his ass to get out of here instead of just waiting for his rescue team. He could tell Marston wasn’t just going to be left to the wolves this time around.

But this wasn’t all to say he didn’t do some reconnaissance of his own- his best information came from the lips of his cellmate, Carl. What he once thought to be a grumpy old man who would push him around and despise him turned out to be a rather helpful ally on his journey. In a lot of ways, he reminded Lenny of Arthur- if not only for his incredibly intuitive nature. Right off the bat he could tell Lenny was planning on escaping- how excited he seemed gave it away. Nobody was that excited each day just to be at Siska.

He had a sit-down with him, in which he told him about all the people he’d seen try and fail to escape in the past.

“So many people have died, kid. Just trying to leave this place.” His gruff voice was deathly serious as he spoke. “If you’re going to try and make a getaway of your own, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I have to do this, man. I have people on the outside- my friends…family. If I can’t get back to them, get my freedom back… then I might as well be dead.” Lenny’s eyes were filled with determination as he spoke, and it caused Carl to nod his head thoughtfully.

“You remind me a lot of my son.” He said after a while. “Headstrong. Intelligent. Passionate. Loved that kid to death, I did.” He seemed rather melancholy as he talked about his son, and Lenny could only think the worst.

“Is he…you know?”

“Dead? No, even worse… he’s in _politics._ ” Carl spat out the last word, his face wrenching up with disgust in such a way that Lenny couldn’t help but giggle. The older man joined him in laughter for a moment before he became serious once again. “You seem like a good kid. I hope you make it out.”

“Try and come with us!” Lenny was quick to say, and Carl’s eyes widened in shock. “You should join us- John and I! The three of us could really-“ He didn’t get to finish his excited ramblings before being cut off.

“No, no… Kid, I’ve been in here for so long that I doubt I could even fit in back out there. It’s a completely different world than the one I left almost 20 years ago. This is what I know, now. I’ve gotten into a comfortable rhythm… it is really worth the risk?” That answer obviously didn’t satisfy Lenny.

“Oh come on, Carl! Is this really any way to live? Especially after you’ve wasted so much time here already? Do you really just want to continue living out your days like this, until one day you keel over while eating your 10,000th can of beans? Does freedom really mean that little to you?”

“Freedom…” He repeated, savouring the words on his lips. “Haven’t been free in a long time. Doubt I was even really free before I got thrown in here… It sounds nice, I’ll give you that.” He gave Lenny a shrug, which only fired him up even more.

“ _Just_ nice? Freedom is everything, man! Can’t believe this place has got you so brain dead to the point where you question if it’s even worth it… Maybe because it’s something you can take for granted.” The two shared a moment of eye contact before Carl nodded, understanding what he meant. This pseudo-Dutch speech seemed to have some affect on the greying man, who found himself shaking hands with his young roommate and agreeing to join them on their plan to freedom.

And with him on their side things moved swimmingly. Having been here for so long meant Carl knew the ins and outs of this place better than most of the employees did. Things he mentioned that meant little to him at the time, like the small 15-minute window between guard changes on Sunday evenings, were key parts of their eventual escape plan.

Thursday. 6:30-6:45 saw the Southern tower unguarded due to the replacement guard always taking a longer than average bathroom break. That, combined with the setting sun and the weaker caliber of guards on duty (due to most of the senior officers choosing not to work on Sundays) made it the perfect time to put their plan into action. Luckily for John, who still couldn’t swim, they also usually had some spare boats on the Southern shore for transport that would aide them in their escape.

And barely two weeks after arriving a shoddy, makeshift plan was pieced together that would hopefully get them as far as they needed to go- all they wanted was one foot in the door and then they could make their exit. They didn’t need it to be blown wide open with dynamite…. _Just_ the smallest chance was what they were looking for. It didn’t all come a moment too soon- the night before they were slated to make their getaway, John was taunted by one of the guards who informed him that soon he’d be sent to hang.  


	5. A Breakout and a Breakup

Thursday rolled around before long, and Lenny and Carl were up bright and early going over the plan one last time. Wait for their 15 minute window- John works on chatting up Jenson beforehand, feeds him the sob story about how he’s about to be hanged. Lower his defenses. Break down crying and ask to have a minute alone. Of course he wouldn’t let John go on his own so he’d have to accompany what he thinks to be a sad and broken man off to cry. 

“I’m just… I don’t know what I’m gonna do…” Lenny heard John rasp out in the background, a knowing smirk growing on his face. Him and Carl shared a quick glance as they listened to John’s less than spectacular acting skills at work. Luckily for them it seemed to do the job just fine and the two of them walked off together. They waited in silence, on the ready for whenever came the time for them to jump into action. 

Barely within earshot they heard a bit of a struggle and watched the other guard intently to make sure he wasn’t catching on. Luckily he stood there, as oblivious as ever, while just around the corner John was swiping the keys to his shackles off of his peer’s unconscious body. 

Once freed from his confines John swiped the gun as well before grabbing a rock nearby and throwing it as far as he could in the direction behind where the remaining guard was. They knew he wasn’t exactly the brightest, and hoped it would be a good enough distraction… with how quickly he whipped his head around and went to investigate, they knew it was.

John wasted no time returning back and unlocking not only his two allies but the rest of the prisoners from their shackles as well- best case scenario they’d cause some chaos and act as a good cover for their getaway. 

With one gun between them the three men ran to the Southern shoreline as quickly as they could. Behind them they started to hear chaos unfolding as the officers inevitably discovered a good dozen of them were running loose. They heard some fighting, yelling and-more alarmingly- gunshots. This caused them to sprint even faster than they were, trying to stay as low to the ground as they could and get over the hill to avoid being seen. They would realize three prisoners weren’t accounted for before long. 

“Let’s hustle it, gentlemen!” John urged on, following behind since he was armed. “Do you guys see any boats at the water?”

“A few!” Lenny answered. “Should we all share one or split up?”

“Split up.” Carl quickly answered. “If the three of us all go different directions we have the best chance of at least one of us getting out.”

“But splittin’ up is  _ never  _ good. I say we should stick together.” John contested, his voice firm. The two men went back and forth for a bit before finally reaching their destination having not yet come to an agreement. 

Lenny was starting to panic. “What’s the plan here, fellas?” He looked between them both desperately- normally he wasn’t one to wait for others but this wasn’t something he could really go off on his own with. They needed to be together on this- but it seems like that wasn’t going to happen. In an instant Lenny found himself on one end of the gun, John’s eyes determined as he aimed it at him. 

“John! What the hell are you-”

“Get in the boat, Lenny.” John commanded. Lenny had never quite heard his voice like that before- so demanding. It caught him off guard, to say the least. 

“What the hell are you doing, man?” Carl whisper yelled at him, incredulous. “Don’t aim the gun at the-”

“Get in the damn boat, Lenny!” His hold on the gun did not falter as he stared the kid down. “I’m not letting us get split up again!” His voice cracked as the emotions broke through, and Lenny couldn’t help but be reminded of Dutch- not that he’d say that to John. Understanding that John was scared, Lenny simply nodded and sat in the boat.

“You’re gonna get yourselves both killed, you know that?” Carl hissed at him before heading into a boat of his own. As he paddled out John quickly joined Lenny in the boat and kicked themselves out into the water as well. He quickly handed off the gun as he grabbed the oars, silently telling him to stay on guard. He rowed out in the opposite direction of Carl, closer towards the shore south of Annesburg. 

“What the hell was that about, John?! You went crazy back there!” 

“I didn’t go crazy, kid. I just… had a bad feeling about splitting up, wanted to make sure that guy didn’t talk you into following his ideas. I just…. I’m sorry I had to be like that but I couldn’t stand if anything happened t-” He was abruptly cut off by a gunshot whizzing past their boat, landing in the water next to them. They whipped their heads around to see a few guards aiming at them from behind them on the shore. Quickly Lenny scrambled down to get some sort of cover in the tiny boat before popping off a few shots from his rifle in an attempt to down any of them. He manage to get one, which was pretty impressive considering the widening distance between them due to John’s hurried rowing. Once they were a good distance away Lenny joined in so they could get to the mainland before reinforcements arrived. Luckily when they hopped off the boat there wasn’t a lawman in sight and they could start making their getaway. 

They quickly set their sight (and gun) on a couple men riding by on some admittedly shoddy looking horses, but they’d have to do. They got off without much of a fight (obviously realizing they were dealing with escaped convicts) and Lenny wasted no time in knocking them out so they could quickly take their clothes as well. Once they were dressed and saddled up they took off towards Valentine- inland, as far from Siska and the surrounding area as they could get. 

They kept their heads down as they saw lawmen rushing by, too preoccupied to pay attention to the seemingly innocent men riding by. Once they were far enough out, the decided to head up somewhere they knew would be good to hideout- Horseshoe Overlook. 

The sun was just now setting, enveloping the familiar area in darkness. As they looked around the clearing they were reminded of their initial arrival there, and all the good times they seemed to had. Dutch’s motivational words, when everybody was still full of hope. The party upon Sean’s arrival, how they all drank and danced and laugh like they didn’t have a care in the world. But now, being back there after all that had happened… Lenny couldn’t help but feel empty inside. He remembered where the tables used to be, and how many rounds of poker he played with Sean (and how he always won too- Macguire never had a good poker face). He stopped for a moment near the tree where they had first tied up Kieran, and fondly remembered the man who went from being meek and distrusted to saving Arthur’s life and starting to worm his way into everybody’s good books. 

Lenny also looked over at John, who seemed just as lost as he did. He was firmly rooted by the cliffside, in a spot that he used to often sit and chat with Hosea. He walked over to his partner in crime and they just stood, staring out over the ledge together. 

“This is why I couldn’t let you go alone.” There was a moment of silence but Lenny didn’t say anything, letting John continue. “All of the people we’ve lost so far… I didn’t want you to become one of them. And I felt like… if you had gotten in one of those boats alone, I wouldn’t have seen you on the other side. And I wouldn’t have the time to go back and look for you- you’d just be gone. Again.” He sighed out, his gaze fixed forwards onto the horizon. “I know aiming a gun at you wasn’t the right thing to do but.. Hey, when do I ever do the right thing?” John turned and looked at Lenny, giving him a small smile. He returned it, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder. 

“I get it, John…. We should stop moping around and set up some sorta camp. Tomorrow we gotta get ourselves settled and start looking for the rest of our family.” John nodded in response and grabbed the two bedrolls of their stolen horses, settling to sleep and hoping not to have dreams that would make waking up seem disappointing. 

 

\--------

 

For the first time in weeks Lenny was waking up a free man, and damn did it feel good. While the bedrolls themselves were subpar at best, the sensation of being able to move freely without having limbs restrained or movement confined to a cell more than made up for the thin fabric and the bumpy ground. 

He looked over to where John was sleeping to see that the man was already gone, as was his horse. Lenny felt himself panic for a moment before he saw what appeared to be a crudely written note on top of John’s bed. He quickly scuttled over to it, grasping it in his hand.

_ Couldn’t sleep. Going out for a spell, try and get some supplies. I took the gun, hope you don’t mind. _

_ -John _

Lenny minded. But he figured John was trying to be helpful, so he put his annoyance at being left unarmed to the back of his mind while he waited for John to return. He searched the saddlebags of the horses and found them to be near empty- no doubt already scavenged by his partner in crime. What was left was a few provisions (luckily for him, no beans in sight) and a small knife. He grabbed the knife, thankful to finally have some sort of defense but keeping his fingers crossed than John was going to bring him something better. He also took the food, which consisted of two cans of peaches and some salted meat and sat down to have himself some breakfast. While he was eating his mind wandered to Carl, and in their rush to escape they never really gave him a second thought. Despite what had happened Lenny hoped he made it out okay. He finished up his food and not a moment too soon, for he soon heard the sound of a horse approaching and hid himself until he knew it was John. The older man called out his impending arrival and Lenny relaxed. 

“Took your sweet time, didn’t ya? What, did you go on a shopping spree, Marston?” Lenny asked, in reference to all of the items John had seemed to acquire. Amongst them were two cheap looking pistols as well as some more food and a change of clothes for each of them. 

“Luckily enough for us those dumb bastards didn’t have enough sense to sell all the good shit they had on them in exchange for better horses. I pawned off some nice looking stuff, in addition to the good bit of coin there already was. Stuff I bought isn’t fancy but it should do us for now.” He tossed Lenny one of the guns and some of the clothes. 

“Yeah, we don’t need much to get us by. We just need to start lookin’ for the rest of the gang. I was thinkin’ we should try headin’ back to Shady Belle- might be risky but it’s our best bet.” John nodded in agreement.

“Was thinkin’ the same thing. Know they’re smart enough not to stick around there but maybe we can catch their trail before the Pinkertons do. Read a snippet of a paper that said most of the gang was still at large. Still reportin’ two caught, a third dead, and a huge reward for the rest of ‘em. Means we still have time.” 

“Or we could turn ‘em in for the bounty money.” Lenny added with a laugh, before the two of them hopped on their horses and headed out for the old plantation house in the swamp.


	6. Disaster Duos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lenny and John seem to be on the right track. 
> 
> Arthur and Sadie? Not so much.

Tired.

That was the one word that truly summed up how Arthur was feeling these past few weeks. Physically tired, from the stress of the bank robbery and their ordeal in Guarma. Mentally tired, from having to constantly be on edge for weeks at a time to avoid being killed, kidnapped or tortured. Emotionally tired, from mourning what seemed to be so many people in so little time. Sean and Kieran before the robbery, then Hosea and Lenny during- not to mention John, wherever  _ he  _ was. Hopefully alive. In fact, he was on his way to discuss with Sadie their plan to find him when Arthur learned of one more person he was set to mourn- himself. 

Because he was sick, and wasn’t going to get better. But he had more important things to attend to than himself- namely his idiot brother who needed to get himself rescued yet again. This time though, he couldn’t hold it against him. He doubted if it was truly his fault-if he was as lost a cause as Dutch has claimed him to be. Because as time as gone on he’d also become real  _ tired  _ of Dutch. His attitude, his reckless behaviour, his blind trust in a man he’s known for months and doubt in the one he’s known for near twenty years. 

Going behind his back was something he never thought he’d have to do yet here he was, sneaking around with Sadie after Dutch had ordered them all to wait. Even after they tried to tell him they couldn’t wait- even after Abigail, with tears in her eyes and absolutely reeking of desperation, begged him to take action… he still only told them that he had a “plan”. He always had a plan, and no matter how much faith he had in Dutch before Arthur was starting to get real sick and tired of the hollow promises and misery every “plan” of Dutch’s seemed to bring about these days. He missed Hosea something fierce, and wondered what he’d say about Dutch’s behaviour right now. Nothing good, that’s for sure. 

“Arthur? Arthur!” His train of thought was derailed as he almost was in real life, coming very close to running right into Sadie on her horse with his own. He hadn’t noticed that she’d stopped riding, and somehow also didn’t notice the hot air balloon a few feet in front of her. Out of it stepped a rather eccentric looking man she seemed to know, given how she beckoned for him upon arrival. She introduced the two of them before the introduced Arthur to the plan- a few feeble attempts to get out of it later and he found himself sky high, directing the balloon right over a maximum security prison. Not how he thought his first few days back home would go, but by this point he’s been through the ringer enough time that nothing affects him anymore- fighting a civil war on an island after crashing a boat you stowed away on on to escape the police for robbing a bank will do that to you. By this point Arthur was just ready to find John and break him out of prison. It seemed almost  _ easy  _ at this point. 

But there was one problem- John was nowhere to be found. 

What he did find, however, were twice as many guards around than he’d expected. It almost seemed like the was one for every prisoner, and they watched every inmate like a hawk. He knew this was a max security facility but… surely this was overkill? 

As if able to read his mind, his slightly shaken co-pilot answered the questions he didn’t ask. “Seems they’ve upped their manpower since the escape a few days back. Maybe that’s a sign we should back-”

“Escape?” Arthur cut him off. “What escape?” 

“Well… they didn’t say much about it publicly. But word has a way of travelling… some prisoners attempted an escape not too long ago. I don’t know if any made it out- I doubt it, really. But a couple ended up dead in the kerfuffle.” Arthur could feel his heart drop at the news. Sure, he hadn’t explicitly told him John was dead- there was no way he could know. But the fact that he scanned every inch of that place from the sky and couldn’t find him, coupled with the streak of terrible luck they’d seemed to be having… he didn’t have to. Plus, even if John wasn’t involved, with the amount of men patrolling the place there was no way they would be able to get him out. Him and Sadie may be talented with their guns but they weren’t miracle workers. 

Arthur, with a heavy heart, was just about to ask to turn the balloon around when they were spotted from the ground. Quickly he started to ascend as his partner in crime dropped to the ground of the basket to hide. They weren’t out of the clear as they pulled away, however- because on the mainland he could see what looked to be Sadie on her horse, with a bunch of angry looking men in hot pursuit. He sighed as he readied his gun, calling out to her and trying his hardest to thin out the crowd of people behind her. But- despite his shooting skills honed over twenty years of practice- he was having a real hard time of shooting men on horseback from a hot air balloon. He only managed to knock two or three of them down when more came out of the woodwork, effectively rendering his efforts moot. 

He turned over to face Bullard but before he could say anything, a bullet came and pierced the man through the skull. He dropped in a heap to the bottom of the basket, leaving Arthur to fend for himself in regards to landing. As he struggled in the air on the ground Sadie was having problems of her own as she was out-numbered, and against her best efforts she found herself being knocked off her horse and hogtied. Soon to follow was Arthur, who after a rocky landing was delirious and hardly able to put up a fight when they came for him. The pair found themselves being taken back to the Annesburg mine where they were tied up, as the small settlement lacked a proper deputy’s office. 

“Sit tight you two.” One of the men spat at them as they were dropped off in one of the cold, damp mine tunnels. “The twos of you are gonna fetch us a real pretty penny! Especially you, big guy!” He laughed gleefully as he kicked Arthur in the ribs, causing the already weakening man to cough and sputter. Sadie wriggled in her binds in an attempt to lash out but couldn’t break free from the knots upon knots she was tied down with. As the laughs of their captors echoed throughout as they retreated, the pair was left alone to contemplate how the hell they were going to get out of this one. 

\-----

“D’you find anything yet?” John’s voice called from upstairs. “I can’t find shit up here!”

“Me neither. They cleaned this place out pretty well.” Lenny called back to him. John’s footsteps went from being above his head to coming down the stairs and Lenny walked back into the entryway of Shady Belle to meet him. “All I can find is a couple packs of cigarettes, useless stuff like that. No trace of where the gang went.”

John shook his head in frustration and smacked his fist down on the banister. “Damn it! The hell are we supposed to do now?” He collapsed into a heap on the stairs, fists tightly clenched. The stress of everything had been building up since the robbery, and being back in the last place he got to see his family that now held no trace to their whereabouts had John at the end of his leash. All Lenny could do was quietly take a seat next to him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder and squeezing to show his support. John turned to look at him and he could see the worry plastered all over the older man’s face. 

“What has me real worried-” John started. “Is wonderin’  _ who  _ cleaned out this place. Course the nice answer would be that the gang was smart enough to take every shred of evidence with them… but they musta been rushed. Doubt they’d get everythin’. That’s why I was hopin’ we’d find something to lead us to them… but the fact that this place is so empty means someone else musta gotten here first. What if somebody got their trail before we did, what if they-”

“Ain’t no use in talkin’ like that, John!” Lenny interjected gripping John’s shoulders and shaking him slightly.. “Worrying about stuff like that is just going to distract us. We just… we just need to keep going. Stay on the move, keep our heads down and ears open. That’s all.” He loosened his grip and stood up, offering his hand for the other man to take. After a brief moment and a nod he did so, and the two of them took one last look at Shady Belle before riding out. 

The next few days had them on the constant move from Rhodes to Strawberry to Valentine the two men were all across the map, talking to people in bars and hanging around sheriff’s offices trying to overhear any shred of information that would lead them to their missing comrades. The well of information was running dry until they overheard something skulking around Emerald Ranch that maybe a few days earlier they would have considered unimportant, but with how desperate they were was now seen as a hot lead. 

“Murfree Broods, huh? You ever heard of ‘em before?” Lenny asked John as they rode side by side. 

“Think so. Never had to deal with any of the bastards myself but apparently they’re a group of inbred hicks up in the Grizzlies.”

“And you think it’s our men killin’ them?” John nodded.

“Could very well be. Would be smart of them to head up North after all the hell we’ve caused down South. Especially since I can’t imagine people like headin’ up there much with them around, seems a perfect place to lie low.” 

“Mmhmm.” Lenny murmured in agreement. “We should head up around Annesburg- might be risky for us to show our faces but I doubt Dutch would ever station the gang too far from a town of somesorts. Plus maybe we’ll learn something there too- we just gotta stay subtle.”  

Now with a destination in mind, the duo made their way to the small mining town where they were soon to find a much better clue than they had ever anticipated. 


End file.
